Five Reasons Why I Love Photographing Autumn

11 Oct 2017

As I may have mentioned by now, Autumn is my favourite season. I love the colours, the freshness and the opportunity to dig out the candles and knitwear. But there’s also something about the atmosphere; the moody skies, the darker nights, the wind whipping around me; that sparks my imagination. I have more stories to tell, more thoughts to write down and more desire to pick up my camera.

To celebrate the launch of their next generation of digital camera, Panasonic got in touch and challenged me to get autumnal with my camera. And I was never going to turn down the opportunity to photograph those autumn leaves was I? The next generation of camera, the best compact camera Panasonic have going on right now, is the Lumix GX80W. It has up to 30k optical zoom, 4k photo and video and all in a sleek, compact design. Perfect to slip in your pocket on those autumnal walks (don’t pretend you didn’t agree to that walk so you could photograph ALL THE LEAVES… or is that just me?).

Autumn will always, always, be the season I am most inclined to dig out the camera and go for a wander with no other purpose than to take pretty photos. Here’s why:

The-feet-in-leaves shot. I know, I know; I’m such a cliché. But there’s something about seeing my feet surrounded by a huge pile of golden crunch that just makes me so content and I always need to get snap happy when it happens (I spend most of October photographing my feet… perfectly normal right?). Naturally I run through the leaves like a 3-year-old the moment I’ve finished photographing.

The eeriness. This is a slightly weird one, but bear with me. As nights draw in, I always feel there’s an air of mystery about the place. The stormy skies and glowing streetlamps down dark streets remind me of ghost stories and, for some reason, this sparks my imagination more than any other time of year. I can imagine whole stories just by walking past St Albans cathedral when it’s getting dark at the moment… welcome to my over-active imagination. It’s fun to try and capture this on camera; always trickier with the lack of light.

The colours. I mean, OBVIOUSLY. The colour is what autumn’s all about right? And omg, are they a joy to photograph. I do a little happy dance when I discover pink leaves because they are much less common than the reds and orange and oh so pretty.

The excitement of what’s to come. Photographing something makes me stop for a moment and inevitably appreciate it more. As those leaves start to fall, I can’t help but get excited for cosy nights in, the smoky smell of bonfires and, inevitably, Christmas. I love it all…. I already mentioned that didn’t I?

Kate

A curious daydreamer in search of adventure and a good photo. Usually found googling travel destinations and trying to find the motivation to write my novel. Currently living in St Albans. Thanks for popping by, I hope you brought snacks.